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The percentage split is better for subpublishers if
they can obtain a local recording of a composition,
and they may retain that composition for a
few extra years.
Subpublishers also can perform an important
function with regard to performance income.
Live performance income can be substantial.
Unlike the U.S., where 100 percent of performance
income is based on airplay, which results
in little for jazz composers and publishers, live
performance venues in Europe—like festivals—
pay substantial fees to the local performance
rights society. The key to maximizing this
income is for the composer/performer to fill out
the logs, which are usually made available backstage
at the show. The artist should carefully
indicate which compositions are performed. No
one checks whether the original compositions
dutifully listed by the composer are actually the
ones performed.
These logs are filed with the local society. A
local subpublisher can add the follow-up necessary
to make sure that the logs are received and
properly tabulated at the local performing rights
society. The writer’s share of this income is
remitted by the local society to ASCAP or BMI
in the U.S. This helps to offset the fact that few
jazz compositions get significant U.S. airplay.
Composers with substantial foreign income are
sometimes able to get an advance from BMI or
an award from ASCAP.
Whichever way a writer chooses to go, the
successful composition will increase in value
and generate income over many years. The
copyright term in the United States now continues
for the life of the author plus 70 years for a
post-1978 composition and 95 years for many
earlier works. In addition to the traditional
sources of mechanical and performing rights, the
Internet is also developing into an alternative
outlet for performances and sales of copies.
A composer or his or her heirs may want to
sell a catalog that has become valuable. The
price for music publishing catalogs will be determined
by calculating the net annual income and
multiplying that by a factor, which could be as
high as 10 or more.
I once asked Billy Taylor how long it took
him in 1964 to write his successful “I Wish I
Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free.” The
answer was 15 minutes, including three choruses
of lyrics. That composition has been recorded
more than 100 times, has been in three major
motion pictures and in 2004 was used in a global
Coca-Cola commercial that was shown on
“American Idol” and 20 times a day during the
Olympics. That represents some good income,
for which he did not have go on the road or into
the studio to receive.
DB
Alan Bergman is a practicing attorney—and jazz
drummer—in New York who has represented
the likes of Ron Carter, Jack DeJohnette, Joe
Lovano, Dreyfus Records, Billy Taylor and the
Thelonious Monk estate. To contact him, go to
alanbergman.com.
June 2009 DOWNBEAT 109